Nigerians Condemn Senate President David Mark’s Call To Censor Social Media

Nigeria, with a population of nearly 160 million, is one of Africa’s giants when it comes to the use of social media. Nearly 4.6 million Nigerians are on Facebook. Twitter is the 6th most popular website in Nigeria. So it comes as no surprise that Nigerians were angered when the President of the Nigerian Senate David Mark suggested that social media in the country should be censored.
On a Senate Press Corps retreat last week, David Mark said that Nigerians use social media to demean their leaders and that there is no avenue for retraction of criticism.
Mark also added that Nigerian reporters should emulate foreign media “who never report negative things about their countries.”
It may be recalled that Mark, a former communications minister, stated a few years ago that Nigeria’s poor were not ready for telephones.
SaharaReporters created a Storify of responses to David Mark’s comments about censoring social media. Most Nigerians rejected the notion that social media should be censored and that social media platforms are a mechanism for ordinary citizens to assess the performance of their leaders.
Interestingly, several posts circulating on Facebook called for an “Occupy David Mark” movement:
“ATTENTION: Occupy David Mark. The senate president must be stopped from his moves to restrict the use of social media in Nigeria, as it has been done in militarised countries of the world. He has been quoted as saying the social media is being used to insult leaders. We are not in North Korea, this is a democracy. “Occupy his telephone line and help save our only freedom of expression. Call, text and even flash 080350088**. Please rebroadcast.”

No word on if the mobile telephone number broadcast is the Senate President’s actual number. But the message is clear: David Mark, do not try to come between Nigerians and their social media.
 

U.S. Seizes Over $3 Million in Looted James Ibori Assets

The United States yesterday announced that it has identified and taken possession over $3 million in funds looted by the jailed former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori.

Mr. Ibori was last April in the United Kingdom convicted on money laundering and conspiracy to defraud charges, and sentenced to 13 years.  

The announcement of the seizure of his funds in the United States was made by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, following a May 16 application to enforce two orders from the UK courts.  

The assets involved are a mansion in Houston, and two Merrill Lynch brokerage accounts.
“Instead of working to benefit the people of the Nigerian Delta, Governor Ibori pilfered state funds and accumulated immense wealth in the process,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  

“He conspired with [his lawyer] Mr. Bhadresh Gohil to funnel millions of dollars in corruption proceeds out of Nigeria and into bank accounts and assets maintained in the names of shell companies and nominees.  Through the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, our message is clear: the United States will not be used as a safe haven for the ill-gotten gains of corrupt foreign officials.”

“This serves as a warning to those corrupt foreign officials who abuse their power for personal financial gain and then attempt to place those funds in the U.S. financial system,” said ICE Director Morton.  “ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to investigate and prosecute those involved in such illicit activities and hold corrupt foreign officials accountable by denying them the satisfaction of their illegal earnings.”

                                                                                                                                                                       Source: Sahara Reporters

THE HEADIES PRESENTS WIZKID WITH A 2012 HYUNDAI SONATA CAR

The Headies, Nigeria’s leading awards for urbane music and hiphop culture kicked off activities for the 2012 edition with the presentation of the next rated prize – a 2012 Hyundai Sonata to Wizkid Friday, July 13, 2012. 

The car presentation held at the Silverbird Galleria in Victoria Island, Lagos. 

Faces present at the presentation include vice president, Silverbird Group, Guy Murray Bruce who presented the car to Wizkid, Smooth Promotions CEO, Ayo Animashaun, Bola Salako, General manager, Silverbird Group among others. 


Goodluck Wizzy!!!!

DAVIDO PLANS TO GO INTO ACTING

Fast rising Nigerian pop star, David Adeleke, otherwise called Davido says he’s interested in acting
The 19-year-old musician made this known during a recent interview.‘I am a son. I am a brother…I am a business owner, and I plan to go into acting when people get to know me’ he said, when he was asked who he is, away from the cameras.

He further spoke about his hit track, Dami duro, which he describes as a ‘bad song’ compared to what is contained in his full debut album which has just been released.

Speaking on his academics, the debutant disclosed that he has switched his full time programme into part time to allow for his busy schedule as an entertainer. He’s currently a student of Babcock University in Ilishan Remo, Ogun state.

Davido will on Sunday, July 22, 2012, launch his debut album, Omo Baba Olowo: The Genesis at the Eko Hotels and suites, Lagos.

5 REASONS TABLETS WILL NEVER REPLACE PCs

1. Tablets do not have the power of a PC. Whether it is a classic desktop PC or a sleek netbook, PCs simply have more power under the hood compared to tablets. Try running a graphics- intensive program like Adobe Photoshop on a tablet, you will pull all of your hair out waiting for your projects to load. A tricked-out PC will never be as lightweight as a tablet, but tablets are only good for lightweight computing tasks.

2. Tablets do not have the storage capacity of a PC. Until cloud computing is fully established, most tablets are only as useful as a paperweight. A tablet with a mere 16 gigabytes of storage capacity, like a brand-new iPad will cost about $500 for a basic, wi-fi only model. For the same price, you can buy an HP laptop with over 50 times the storage capacity of the aforementioned tablet. With HP coupons, that laptop can be yours for even cheaper than an iPad.

3. Tablets are not as good as PCs when it comes to tactile response. Typing anything on a tablet is hard work. With a PC, one has the tactile response of a physical keyboard and mouse. On a tablet, the typing experience is much different. One simply can not type as fast when using a tablet, the technology just is not there yet. Plus, how can one type from touch without feeling the keys? Also, typing on a touchscreen tablet forces one to stare at the keyboard while typing, which wastes time.

4. PCs are better for gaming. Sure, most tablet computers these days come pre- loaded with “app store” software that allows you to buy games to play. How many of those games are of real quality? Sure, Angry Birds can be a great time-killer, but try playing a game like StarCraft 2 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on a tablet. It simply will not work, because only a PC can deliver a true video gaming experience.

5. Tablets are no good for multi-tasking. Can you play music on your tablet while surfing the web, checking your e-mail, and Skyping with your BFF all at the same time? Didn’t think so. As far as multi-tasking goes, PCs are supreme. A PC can also be hooked up to multiple monitors to greatly increase productivity. Tablets only have one display and it is nowhere near the size of a PC display. Will you ever replace your PC with a tablet?

Innovation and Creativity – The Importance of New Ideas

 

 What is the difference between creativity and innovation? When you look up both words in dictionaries it is clear that these two words get mixed up and sometimes even are used synonymously. So here are my working definitions which I hope you find to be helpful and realistic.

Creativity is coming up with ideas that are different from anything you already know about. Innovation is when the ideas are also something new to the world AND has a value that someone would covet and pay for.
First the ideas have to be developed. Then there is a search to see if someone else already thought of it. And finally there will be market research to determine whether anyone finds value and will buy it. Sometimes the last stage is done by bringing the idea to market and testing sales directly because the inventor/developer is sure it will be a hit. Sometimes the idea is brought directly to market because the developer feels that is the best test and doesn’t allow competitors a chance to steal the idea.
So let’s back up for a moment and explore how those creative ideas can emerge more consistently and profusely since that is the first step to innovation. Though sudden inspiration can happen, idea generation is more predictable if you have methods to brainstorm and document lots of ideas all the time giving you a much better chance that some of them will reach the innovation stage.
Here are a few ways to hold on to those ideas you get.
Most of us think we won’t forget when we come up with a good idea. After all if it seems like a great one how could you forget? Unfortunately, if you don’t write it down you may easily forget. Keep some way to make notes with you all the time. A little pad of paper or notebook, a folded single piece of paper, a napkin, or your phone if you can type in a note or record a short message to yourself. You can even call your own number and leave the message in your voicemail.
Leonardo da Vinci always carried around a little notebook and made notes and drawings about his ideas and thoughts.
It is common to wake up at night with one of those light bulb ideas. If you have been dealing with an ongoing problem that you are trying to solve, your brain will keep working on it in your dreams. Keep a notebook or pad of paper, pen, and small reading light or flashlight. No matter how sleepy you feel and how sure you are at that moment that you will remember in the morning, write it down — at least write enough keywords or phrases to remind you what it was all about.
Creativity is the way you fill the funnel with many ideas so that some of them will turn out to be true innovations.